Wind-shield attachment.



W. R.DONBGAN J, J. WALSH. wml) sHELD ATTACHMENT. APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 9, 1911.

ww Patented Dec. 1o, 191:5.

WILLIAM n. ,nonnean AND .Toi-m a'. wen'smor Hnnrronn, connessioni'.

wrNn-sninnn ATTACHMENT.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

.Application filed January 9, 193.1.A Serial No. 601,520.

To' al? whom. it 'may concimi! Y Be it known that we,W1LLiAii R. DoNE- GAN and JOHN J. WALSH', citizens ot the United States, residing at Hartford, in thel county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in find-Shield Attachments,

' cially in conjunction with or as part of an automobile or motor car. It, is the custom to provide such a vehicle withv a top, and it is usual to connect with the front-bow or other part of said top, apair of straps, the latter being also connected with some part of theA hood or other portion' of the-automobile structure. 'lhe function of these straps is to hold the top in positionwhen up. It is a point of greatfdesirability to maintain the front bow in a given position'fbut the straps fail in this respect. llt the straps'he too tight I the bow is pulled too far forward, and the top is unduly stretched or misshapen. On the other hand. it the straps are too loose they naturally flap and the top is buckled or creased. ln either event the elicct is very undesirable,.and it is a matter of fact that it vrequires an expert to properly adjust the straps and top and even he cannotalways attain this result.

WeA provide a construction wherein the disadvantages alluded to are wholly eliminated, and we assure at all times andunder all conditions the maintenance of the front bow or forward portion of the top in a deiinite position and rigidly and substantially secure it in this relation. To obtain this result we interpose supporting means between the top and the wind shield, and while said means may be oi any suitable character, they consist preferably of rigid members and rods or their equivalentsv answer satisfactorily in this connection. The rods eiiectually brace the top and hold it securely inthe proper position. We prefer that the parts be so organized whether we use rods or not that theV wind shield can be opened or closed if of oldabletype, and thev top let down or put up at any time without interference with each other. In other words the presence of the supports to which reference has been made, aects in no wise'the action of the top ans-wies entre. q

In 'the drawings accompanying and forrning part of the present specification, we show in detail one simple form of embodiment of the invention,v Awhich to enable those skilled in the art to practise the same will be set `torth in detail in the following description,

while the novelty of the invention will be ineluded in the claims succeeding said description. From the observation just made, it

will be clear that we do not restrict ourselves to the showing made by saiddrawings and description; we Imay depart therefrom in several respects within the scope of our invention.

. Referring to said drawings: Figure l isa side elevation of an' automobile equipped with an attachment involving our invention. F ig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper portion of such car. Fig. 3 is a detail view of 'one of the rods or supports and its several connections, and, Fig. 4 is a similar view of the upper portion of one of the rods and the "fastening means thereforv connected with the top.

The several figures, as will be clear are on different scales and, throughout 'the samel like characters refer to like parts.

In Fig. l of the drawings we have shown the body 2 of 'an automobile provided with. a top 3 and to the dash of said car is reine,l

sented connected a wind shield denoted in a general way by e and all of these parts may be and are of well-known kinds. rJlhe wind shield l comprises a lower or main section 5 and an upper or swinging section 6, it being usual to connect the lower section 5 in some' rigid manner with the frame V7 of the vwind shield.- This frame 7 is generally connected rigidly with the dash 7 of the car, and it ordinarily has connected therewithbraces 7 also connected with the car body or other relatively-stationary part.

'From the statements already made it will be apparent that in connection with a wind shield such for instance as that already.eley scribed, we provide supports for the top,

said supports being preferably but notnecessarily directly associated-with the wind shield and being capable of detachable con neet-ion with the top. It is possible that this particular relation may, be reversed, although the other construction is, as will be gathered,`the preferable one. While the sup# lports :mayfvary decidedlylin character, we have shown for sucirfpurpose .two rode* il,

which preerably, attirait-gh not Patented Dec. iti, igt?.

have 'a telescopic connection with the wind shield 4, the side bars of the frame 7 for this purpose beine-made in the form of tubes by reason of which the said rods 8 canbe' raised andl lowered for a purpose that' will hereinaftery appear.` While the rods have this verticall movement, they are adaapted when vthe top is up, to be solidly in their operative or top supporting rea lations as will hereinafter appear,- and for this purpose any suitable means may be provided. The lower ends of the rods are l threaded to 'receive 'thenut-sleeves 9, said nut-sleeves 9 being slidable in the side bars in the frane 7 and therefore constituting anadjustab e part of the respective rodsi The -hollow or tubular side bars of the frame are capped by nuts l0 constituting, as will here-y inafter'appear, suitable stops, although we might indicate at this point'that when the nut-sleeves or 'adjustable collars 9 strike the nuts or stops 10, this will indicate deinitely I that the rods. 8 have been elevated to the preciseand exact extent which the particular conditions demand. We have shown tapped through the hollowside bars of the'frame 7 set screws, 11 adapted to engage the sleeves or collars 9 to thereby substantially hold the rods 8in operative position. It will be clear .that by slightly backing out the screws 11,

the rods 8 will be released .and can, therefore, be lowered into`the tubular side bars of the frame 7 -so as to behoused thereby, this procedure? being followed when the ,top 3.is to-be closed.

In the present case the upper ends of the rods are adapted for detachable connection with the top 3, and there are various ways by which this result can be obtained as there are different points of thetop to which said rods can thus be united. As a matter of preference the rods are separably joined with the front bow 12. To the under side of said bow 12 and at the opposite sides of the top 3 we have shown rigidly connected the socket members 13 1 provided with spring' bolts 14 movable through perforations 15 extending through the heads of the rods 8. In Fig. 4 the spring bolt 14 is shown connecting the coperating rod 8 with the top 3. To release said particular rod, said co.

operating bolt '14 will be drawn back and a similar operation being followed with respect to the o posite bolt, the two rods 8 will be lowere free of the socket members 13 at which pointthe top can 'be freely closed. It will also be evident that when the rods 8 are in operativeor top supporting positions, the upper section 6 of the wind shield can be freely swung down and up without in any wise interfering with the top and its supports 8.

It is essential that the distance between the forward bow 12 andthe:topv'of-thedash or the top of the windshield'4- should not vary, and we provide,l as will' be understood from the observation already made, gagevv means for positively and underall vcircumy stances'insuring this result, such action in the resent case being securedby the adjusta le collar or nut 9. This collar or nut J9 Ain the lfirst instance will be so adjusted on .the rod 8 that when the said adjustable collar or nut strikes the'stop or nut 10 this will indicate conclusively that the rods 8 have been elevated the exactvdistance.

lWhat we claim is:-

1. -The combination of 4the 'wind shield Aand the foldable top of an automobile, and

a plurality of independently longitudinally adjustable stay members extendingbetween said top and said wind shield;

2. The combination of the foldable top and the wind shield' of. an automobile, a plurality of independently operable stay rods between.v the wind shield and the top,

and independently adjustable devices carried by the respective rods, for determining the.

positions thereof.

3. The combination. of the foldable to and wind shield of an automobile, the win shield'having tubular sidebars, rods telescopic in saidtubular side bars,'adjustable members carried by the respective rods, and stops carried by the wind shield for engagement by said adjustable members, said rods being lconnected with said top.'

4. The combination of the foldable top andthe-wind shield of an automobile, said wind shield having tubular side bars, rods telescopic in said side bars, sleeves-adjustable on the rods, caps for said side bars, eni gageable by said sleeves, and sockets on the vamount of elevation of said rods.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM R. DONEGAN. JOHN J. WALSH. l

. Witnesses:I l v F. E. ANDERSON, HEATH SUTHERLAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 'Washington'. ILC.

to receive thev upper ends of saidrods. 

